About Us
The Reading League Arizona
Our mission is to advance the awareness, understanding, and use of evidence-aligned reading instruction.
Meet Our Team
Meet TRL-AZ President Amy DeWitt
Amy DeWitt is currently a curriculum specialist with a large district in southern Arizona. She has previously been a classroom teacher, instructional coach, and reading interventionist. Amy is a fierce advocate for teacher professional development that has immediate impact and builds confidence. The best part of her work is being at schools, working with teachers. Amy wants to be able to support schools and teachers around Arizona, building teacher capacity and inspiring them to embrace evidence-aligned literacy instruction.
Meet TRL-AZ Board Member April Smith
April Smith is an instructional coach and curriculum director based in Arizona. She taught grades 4-8 in rural California and Arizona and served as a district literacy coach before moving to the Phoenix Metro. Now, she trains teachers and school leaders across the country on how to integrate direct writing instruction, focusing on teaching spelling and grammar skills in context while tailoring lessons to meet the needs of all writers through targeted intervention tools and lesson modifications. Since 2017, she has trained over 100,000 educators nationwide, both in-person and online. She is also the author of Simplify Your Writing Instruction: A Framework For a Student-Centered Writing Block and the top-reviewed PBL book Project Based Learning Made Simple. As a parent of a child with dyslexia and dysgraphia, April is particularly passionate about supporting students with learning disabilities.
Meet TRL-AZ Board Member Samantha Molitor
Dr. Samantha Molitor has held a variety of roles as a special education teacher, including adaptive cluster and resource teachers in public and private educational settings. In addition to her K–6 work, Dr. Molitor is an adjunct professor at Grand Canyon University, teaching courses in assessment and eligibility. In this capacity, she shares her theoretical knowledge and practical experience with the next generation of educators, supporting their development and effectiveness in the field.
Dr. Molitor is committed to ongoing professional growth and remains engaged with the latest pedagogy and literacy instruction advancements. As both an educator and the parent of children with developmental and learning disabilities, she brings a unique and personal perspective to her work and is deeply dedicated to building nurturing, inclusive educational communities that help all students succeed.
Meet TRL-AZ Board Member Whitney Herr-Buchholz
Whitney Herr-Buchholz is an accomplished arts sector leader and nonprofit professional dedicated to advancing the arts as fundamental to healthy, vibrant communities. Passionate about literacy, she is proud to be a founding board member of The Reading League Arizona. Most recently, she served as Director of Development & External Relations for Lead Guitar, a national music education nonprofit that brings guitar ensemble programs to schools across the country. Previously, Whitney served as Director of Development for the University of Arizona’s Arizona Arts division and as Director of Operations & Advancement for the University of Arizona School of Dance, where she helped drive the school’s growth and visibility, contributing to its recognition as one of the top five collegiate dance programs in the nation. Whitney holds a Master of Nonprofit Leadership and Management degree from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art and Visual Culture Education for Community and Museums from the University of Arizona.
Meet TRL-AZ Vice President Loralee Castillo Panagakis
Loralee holds a Masters in Education with an emphasis as a Program Reading Specialist from Liberty University, a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership from Arizona State University, certified Teacher K-8, certified Principal PreK-12. She is endorsed in Early Childhood Education, Structured English Immersion and as a Reading Specialist for grades K-12. She is a Doctoral candidate working towards her Doctorate in Educational Leadership at the University of Arizona. She strongly believes that literacy is a fundamental human right, and seeks to disrupt inequity by supporting literacy endeavors in underserved communities.
Loralee began her career 28 years ago and has experienced the importance of early literacy as a Pre-Kindergarten teacher, as well as a teacher in grades K-3rd, an interventionist and a mentor for new and veteran teachers in both public and charter schools. She has served in multi-diverse military and civilian communities on the West coast, East coast, Midwest, and now in Arizona. She has served as a PTO staff officer to bridge the gap between school and families, and improved community engagement with hosting family events, cultural festivals and literacy family activities. As a mentor and campus MTSS coordinator, she has been able to provide professional development on evidence-aligned practices, meet the needs of students and teachers through collaboration and collective data decision making.
In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, paddleboarding, taking her dogs to the park, reading and cooking.
Meet TRL-AZ Board Member Adrienne Reese
Adrienne Reese is a Manager of Literacy Coaches and Local Integrated Literacy Facilitators at AIM Institute for Learning and Research. In this role, she leads a team of AIM literacy coaches to develop, support, and facilitate the AIM coaching model and certification process. With over two decades of experience in education, she served in positions from preschool through secondary, her passion, though, is in coaching and training educators in diagnostic, prescriptive instruction and implementing best practices. Adrienne has a Master’s Degree in Curriculum Instruction Language and Literacy, is a CERI® certified Structured Literacy Dyslexia Interventionist, and a Wilson® Dyslexia Therapist.
Meet TRL-AZ Board Member Valerie Ramirez
Valerie Ramírez is currently a teacher of English language learners at a public school district in Southern Arizona. She also serves as an adjunct assistant clinical professor for an English as a New Language program at the graduate level. In her 18+ years in education, she has served as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, curriculum designer, and administrator in K-8 settings including Texas, New York City, Utah, and currently Arizona. She has experience in the private, public charter, and public school sectors. Valerie is proud to be a founding board member of The Reading League Arizona Chapter in Formation. She is passionate about equitable education and fiercely believes that a quality education—specifically, learning to read—can change the trajectory of a person’s life.
Meet TRL-AZ Board Member Kathy Denious
Reimagine the Future of Reading
Help us bring the science of reading to every educator, parent, and child.